Saturday, June 29, 2013

I am making progress on the Antique DWR quilt. This one is definitely a challenge, but I have a system of sorts that is working well. There is quite a lot of variation in sizes in the partially finished blocks.

Here are two completed pieces and I don't know if you can see the variation in the sizes, but the top one is considerably longer than the lower one.

To make these arcs a consistent size, I used my template, and drew the shape on my pressing board.

I am now able to fit the arcs to the correct shape.

There is usually extra fullness on the outer curve of these blocks, and I ease this in and fit the block to the correct size. This easing in of the fullness is what the original maker did with these blocks. Then to keep the shape, and also to stabilize the block I fuse featherweight interfacing to the wrong side.

Some of the blocks have a bit of extra length so for those I trim the ends to make them fit.

And some of the blocks just don't want to fit at all.

There are a few extra blocks, so for now I will just set these too small blocks aside, and if I do need them I will add to them to make them fit.

Here is my progress so far! I am pleased, and even with the adjustments I am making, I believe I am keeping the integrity of the original design and workmanship. A few more rows to complete, and then on to quilting this treasure.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

First off a huge and sparkly Thank You to my blog friend Jen at Quilter in the Closet for the nicest surprise in my mail box. A darling book called More Sewing with Whimsy.

Jen knows that I love sewing for my grand daughters, and this book is the perfect gift. Lots of cleverly embellished girls clothing.

I think this tiered top is so cute, and it is definitely on my list. Thank you so much Jen!

Now for the random things I want to share. Now that I have my smart phone, I can text, and what fun that is. Here is one of the funnier texts I received from my daughter.

When they asked Ethan why he would flush his underwear down the toilet, his answer was quite simple.

"I don't like to wear them"

And more about Ethan. He started swim lessons a few months ago, and it was a disaster. My poor daughter said she was "the mom" with "the kid" who was screaming, crying and refusing to cooperate in anyway with the lessons. Well with patience and repetition, progress has been made each week. Today I received this text.

And just one more, a darling shot of Holly

It is sharing my blessings, struggles and victories that make having a blog so special. Thank you all for joining me on my journey. I appreciate it.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

We had such a nice time camping. It was beautiful, cool weather, but no rain or fog which made things so nice. The dogs loved running on the beach, and there was a lot of agate searching. One of the highlights this year was a hike through Fern Canyon. My friend Jo suggested it to me, and it was amazing. It is exactly what the name implies, a canyon of ferns. Amazing.

There was a little creek running through the bottom of the canyon that was so tempting to the little ones, even though it was quite chilly.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Our family is camping this weekend, and the timing couldn't be better. Our temperatures are well over 100 degrees, possibly 112* tomorrow and that is just too hot. I am very grateful that my home has not blown away, been flooded with water, or burned to the ground, so a few days of high, high heat, I will take it. Or better yet leave it, and head for Patrick's Point on the cool CA coast.

I am taking some hand sewing of course, and so excited to start my Maggie Rabbit kits from Alicia at Posie Gets Cozy. I missed these kits the first time and they sold out.

My kids (they are teachers) are now out of school, so this trip is our official start of summer. So looking forward to some time together, time around a fire, at the beach, under redwoods, and some cool weather.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

I worked on another quilt for Pam, the Library Gal, and this has to be one of the cutest quilts I have ever had the privilege to work on. For starters it was made from Pam Kitty Morning fabric.

I think these little kittens are adorable, and just look at the added touch Pam added with the rick rack.

Little swirls around the kittens just make them and their cute dresses stand out. I did just a few details of lines in the skirts and hats to help set them off.

Continuous curves on the granny squares, and an Angela Walters swirl in the sashing.

My only photo of the entire quilt just does not do it justice, but this is all I have.

For the outer border I did a flower echo swirl, it was fun and cute, and fit the quilt well.

This really was so fun to do, and as soon as I started the swirls on the first kitten I was hooked. I love it when the quilt and quilting really come together, compliment each other. Thank you Pam, I loved working on this quilt.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

My next challenge is an antique double wedding ring quilt that is partially done. This quilt was all hand pieced, and if you look closely at the fabrics you can tell they are the real deal, old and older.

This quilt has a long family history, and when my customer asked if I would consider taking on this challenge I was both honored and humbled. I would love to finish all that was started here, thinking of the original quilters, and the struggles they went through just getting fabric, cutting with scissors, not rotary cutters, and using what they had on hand. My customer was able to talk with the quilt maker before she passed, learned about the fabrics used and it's history. Finishing this quilt has been on her "to do" list for several years

One row is completed, and then there are stacks of partially finished melon shapes.

Being hand pieced, there is a lot of wonkiness in these blocks. It is interesting how the assembly process is different when piecing by hand. I have made similar patterns, and I did not put them together this way.

One of the unique or creatively pieced aspects of these blocks is that once the small pieces are stitched together, they are then just pressed to the correct size. You can see how the fullness in this block is just ironed into shape.

To finish this quilt, there will be a bit of unstitching, and restitching. I spent a lot of time making up templates so I can get a definitive size to work with. I thought this would be fairly easy, just trace a finished block, and go from there. That didn't happen. There was just too much variance in the blocks from one to another, so several trial templates, piecing and re piecing scrap fabric, I came up with a block that matched quite closely.

Having the templates, I can work with the blocks I have and fit them to the template. I was able to find a cream fabric that closely matched. Not exactly, but I don't know it that is even possible. While trying to match fabric, I found that the background fabric used had it's own variations. I think it will all work together, and keep the integrity of the current piecing.

This will keep me busy for some time I am sure, and I will post about my progress.

About Me

I am Esther, and I have loved sewing as long as I can remember. Many years ago, I started an embroidery business so I could work from home and raise my children. I now own a longarm quilting machine to redirect my home based business to match my current obsession. Sewing has always been part of my life, and try as I might not to, I always have threads on the floor.